BBC – Is the private rented sector under attack? Help us defend it

I have now sold half of my portfolio which I had been building over the last 20 years. All but one an EPC of C or above as I do not buy or rent anything that I would not be prepared to live in. I have been selling due to Section 24, Licencing, COVID restrictions and voids and now considering issuing a Section 21 to the remaining good tenants as I do not want to be left in a position where it is difficult to sell or the tenant digs their heels in because they cannot find anywhere good to rent at the price they have been paying.

Going for lower income in my retirement but less stress. Do not trust any government to treat good LL fairly.

Reply to the comment left by Rod at 21/04/2022 - 16:02
Surely excluding rent arrears from Sec.21 means specifying a reason for invoking it and therefore will open up the procedure to being challenged?

Reply to the comment left by Gromit at 22/04/2022 - 11:30
The iHowz proposal is just that.

I accept that as S21 is a "no reason given" application for possession, and attempting to exclude rent arrears would be problematic.
Its inclusion was mainly to counter the claims by tenant groups that S21 is used indiscriminately.

We realise that the current S8 grounds (8, 10 and 11) are available but grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary and ground 8 can be mitigated by payment of rent arrears close to proceedings, so they would need to be revised to make them fit for purpose.

Reply to the comment left by Rod at 22/04/2022 - 11:43
I suspect that as far as government are concerned S8 is already fit for purpose and that the various grounds represent what they believe to be all that is needed to deal with rent arrears. Remember that the whole thrust of their proposed reforms is to make things fairer for renters, not landlords. The unfairness of S21 (as they probably see it) is that it can be used to overcome the limitations of S8.

Sorry to play devil's advocate but we need to come to terms with reality. The big problem with the abolition of S21 will be how to deal with antisocial behaviour, damage to property and the like.

In my experience serving a Section 21 is less confrontational, even if a Section could be served. Once you serve a Section 8 you are into legal territory and that is when tenants did their heals in. ASB is really hard to prove, you have to have police involvement and if you want to sell then this has to be disclosed and devalues the property. In all ways the LL loses.

There has to be an amended Section 8 if Section 21 is abolished as currently a Section 8 does not cover a LL wanting to sell. Otherwise we would have to keep a tenant, until we die or the bank repossesses. I do not want more years of hassle. I have had enough and getting our whist I can.

If you have not done so, I urge ALL OF YOU (yes, readers and thread participants)

Take 10 minutes this weekend to WRITE TO YOUR MP and send them a copy of our proposal, highlighting the consequences of repealing S21

The more that write, the greater the chances they will listen.
Give examples of why you rely on S21, rather than using S8, and the likely consequences of its removal on your business / general rental market.
Ask them to raise your concerns with our latest Housing Minister, Stuart Andrew.
Even better - try and book time to discuss it with them.

https://ihowz.uk/the-unintended-consequences-of-losing-the-section-21-notice/

The BBC is the last organization I would trust to get anything right or report the truth.
It's a bad start when the survey is aimed at agents rather than landlords.
As suggested, they are more than likely just collecting ammunition to help destroy the sector even more. They are far too woke to be trusted to tell the truth.

Reply to the comment left by at 21/04/2022 - 09:44
The 'experts' you mention have also been Critical of the PRS

It seems that anyone reading this blog, is already aware of the implications of what is going on here, even if the Government is blind, or intentionally pushing matterss in the direction things are going, which I suspect is the aim.
A simple example is one I have on my hands at present. i.e. I have two, one bedroomed cottages, next to each other, with a shared, large garden, both built around 1900 one terraced, and one detatched, owned and rented out for the past 32 years. Prior to that, they were owned by my Mother & Grandmother, so have been in the family a long time.
Tenants have loved living here, with the typical tenant being male, having moved in after a relationship breakdown, and that is still the case. Typically, they stay for 4 years whilst turning their life around, and move out one having met someone else, and where 1 bed isn't big enough..
The quandary I now have, like so many others, is what to do if, as & when the new EPC Cat C rules come in to play in 2025, as there is no way I can achieve Cat C's, especially on the detached property, on buildings built 120 years ago, without cavity walls.
The irony of it all is, that in an article I read recently, the local Council state that they are struggling with their homelessness problem,and particularly with the lack of 1 bed properties to rent.in the area.
Given the way things are going, in 3 years time, there will be 2 less 1 bed properties to rent in the area. It's not something I want to do, and the tenants would be devastated to lose their comfortable little homes, plus rentals are now much higher elsewhere, if able to find somewhere in the 1st place.
The cottages are built in an attractive local red brick, and cladding (Can't see any financial benefit in doing so) would spoil their character, even if it were possible. This might be possible with the terraced house, but not the detached one, which effectively sits in the garden.
Oddly, one serious option would be to demolish the detached house (a former bakehouse & washhouse), as if sold, having owned it so long, I would end up paying a large amount of CGT on the sale proceeds.
How set in concrete is the Cat C proposal?

To run a business you need to be able to plan for the longer term. All the changes the government has been making in the short and medium term has made this impossible so I have sold our buy to lets with only one left in which my younger son now lives.